Every four years, Americans vote for the president and claim they have done their patriotic duty. However the reality is that many Americans disregard local politics and have decided the only decisions that matter are those on the national level. It seems that we pay more attention to the politics and antics of the federal government than our city and county officials – the government that directly affects us.
If we avoid political participation, why do we claim to have the necessary information to make an informed decision about our next leaders based on the agendas news outlets vomit into our ears?
The main reason we have decided national politics and decisions are the only kind that matter is because of the federal government’s massive power and reach. This can also be coupled with our socialization of seeing nothing but national news on cable television.
Over the last 100 years, the central government has increased dramatically in size and strength. There are many reasons for this: World War I, the Great Depression, World War II and, more recently, preventive and preemptive policies.†
The increasing lack of political participation is due in large part to our comfort level as a society. We, as Americans, consume as much and as many resources we can, considering someone else picks up the tab. We are content with an A sitting down instead of a B standing up; we try to find the shortest and easiest method to end up at a midpoint of moderate comfort.
Our generation participates little in campaigns through physical presence or donation, has little contact with local officials and has a lack of communication within its communities about "true issues" rather than matters pushed by corporate agenda. If you believe you are, in fact, doing your political job as an American, then who is your district official? Who are your five at-large council members? Who is your state representative or state senator? Who are our U.S. senators?
A big reason we have turned to television as a main source of information is that it is there and it’s funny. The simplicity of turning on a TV and listening is easier than any other form of information gathering. We have been socially trained to arrange our furniture around the television. While I do feel optimistic about the fact that our generation is becoming more understanding in regard to lifestyles and innovation, I pray this societal shift of liberalism doesn’t cause it to weaken the value of success coming from hard work.
